SOOT ANGELS

Strapped in a harness Obscured by his raggedy robe Ismail’s thumb teeters twitchily on a trigger press As he seeps visceral onto dirt road

Ismail mutters, “Allah, I have failed you so.” Flails his extremities – never even a witness to snow Etching wings and a skirt with his final breath While a hemisphere away Tiffany brims an urn in death

Tiffany wished for a piercing last Christmas This year for her brain bump to just- -Go, go away… She sits on the mantelpiece today

God was supposed to swoop inHow she was taught through liturgyBut chemo drained all her energyShe never made it to ten

And Ismail’s only eight Fingering the lump latched to his chestFather said, “Give the insurgents your best.”While proffering an AK

Ismail never possessed the gallSo after approaching those soldiers unarmedHis bliss made him gullibleTheir candy bars had him charmed